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WHEELING, W.Va. — A former Ohio County teacher who had four children with a former student agreed to an Alford plea Tuesday and was sentenced to 1 to 5 years in prison. Elizabeth Harbert, a former teacher at Bridge Street Middle School and Wheeling Park High School, entered the plea to third degree sexual assault. The Alford plea allows a case to result in a conviction without the defendant actually pleading guilty. Harbert and Christopher Birch began a relationship in 2005 when she was approximately 30 and he was 15. A criminal complaint said they had sex at least 50...

Melissa Rodriguez, 35, a former teacher at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School who has a federal criminal record, was charged Tuesday with failure to report abuse, neglect or injury to a child or imminent risk of serious harm to a child by a mandated reporter. Details of her alleged crime and what she failed to report were not immediately available. The arrest warrant affidavit in the case is sealed. Rodriguez and fellow teacher Laquana Sheppard were both placed on paid administrative leave by Superintendent Cynthia Ritchie on May 3, “pending the outcome of an internal investigation.” They were told not...

NEW LONDON, CT (WFSB) -- Another arrest was made amid the ongoing investigation involving New London Public School employees. On Tuesday, police arrested 35-year-old Melissa Rodriguez, of Griswold. She's being charged with failure to report as a mandated reporter. Police said she was a teacher at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School. The investigation began with the arrest of Corriche Gaskin, 35, who is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student over the course of several years. He was listed as a school 'climate specialist' at the Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, however he was terminated from his...

A California woman was arrested Monday because officials say she had sex with a 14-year-old student while she chaperoned his eighth-grade class trip to Washington, D.C., this spring. Jacqueline Nicole Muller, 26, was charged with first-degree child sexual abuse after she had sex with a male student at a hotel in D.C. on May 9, charging documents say. Investigators say they found extensive text messages between Muller and the teenage boy.

<p>BEAUFORT, S.C. (AP) - Officials say a South Carolina teacher had sex with two students after telling co-workers she had a crush on one of the boys.</p> <p>The Island Packet of Hilton Head reports that the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office released a 147-page report detailing the activities of high school teacher Brittany Whetzel.</p>

MURPHY, NC (WSPA) - A Cherokee Co., NC teacher is accused of sex acts with a student, according to Sheriff Derrick Palmer. Palmer says they began an investigation into a report that Kayla Sprinkles had engaged in sex acts with a student while she was teaching at a Cherokee Co. High School on March 26. The HAVEN Child Advocacy Center assisted in some of the interviews due to the age of the individuals interviewed, according to the report. She was indicted on June 4 on 5 counts of Sex Activity with a Student. Sprinkles found out about the indictment and...

Two high school teachers in Southern California have been arrested on suspicion of having sexual relations with students on an overnight beach camping trip. South Hills High School teacher Melody Lippert allegedly met a group of male students in November at the beach in San Clemente, where she gave them alcohol and "engaged in a sexual relationship with one of them," according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

A Queens (gym) teacher was charged today with raping a second student, an apparent rebound from an affair with another 16-year-old boy that ended when he took someone else to the school prom. Joy Morsi, 38, was back in court for a second day in a row after prosecutors hit her with more rape and child endangerment charges for alleged abuses that happened right under her husband’s nose. A day earlier, prosecutors said the Grover Cleveland High School teacher had been carrying on a months-long affair with a student, and flipped when she learned he was taking someone else to...

The 32-year-old Californian elementary school teacher and mother-of-two who admitted performing sex acts on a 12-year-old student was sentenced on Friday to six-years in prison with no option for parole. Malia Brooks, from Southern California, pleaded guilty in June to three counts of committing lewd acts with a child under 14 and faced up to 12-years in prison, but Judge Kevin McGee imposed a sentence half that because of the fact she was experiencing manic episodes at the time.

Some of the regulars down at Sparky’s Diner took me to task this week for not adding my wooden two-cents to what is easily the sleaziest story to come out of academia this century. My reasoning that others have jumped in with their own ire and indignation did not mollify the group. So, here is my take that you can take or leave. It may sound a bit disjointed, but I will lead you where you do not want to go. Trust me. Let me begin by saying I spent several days so angry that I was nearly spitting every...

The Plainfield North High School physical education teacher accused of having sex with a student pleaded not guilty this morning in a Will County courtroom. Ashley M. Blumenshine, 27, of Lisle appeared in court this morning with her attorney, George Lenard, where she pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated sexual abuse. Blumenshine, who wore a long pink coat and black slacks, said nothing but stood by her attorney before Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt. Her next court date is March 2. Blumenshine and two adults who came with her to court Wednesday declined comment after the hearing. Lenard...

PITTSBURGH -- A Pittsburgh-area woman got 18 months probation for molesting her son's 16-year-old friend after her then-14-year-old son reported the incident. Forty-three-year-old Cassandra Sproch, of Sewickley, was sentenced for indecent assault, corruption of minors and 12 other counts. She made dinner for her son and three friends while serving them wine and dressing seductively in December 2009. Her son and another boy later found her kissing and fondling the 16-year-old and pulled him from her bedroom. Sproch's attorney, Patrick Thomassey, says there no harm done in what he called a "rite of passage." Assistant District Attorney Laura Ditka says...

A Plainfield North High School teacher has been ordered not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18 after a judge set her bond this afternoon at $75,000, following charges she had sex with a 16-year-old boy. Ashley M. Blumenshine, 27, of the 4000 block Nutmeg Lane in Lisle was charged with criminal sexual abuse after police say she allegedly had sex with the 16-year-old, who is a junior at Plainfield North, in a vehicle behind Kohl’s, 11860 S. Route 59. Police chief Bill Doster said police approached the scene behind Kohl’s when they noticed two suspicious vehicles “at...

WAYNE COUNTY — A Wayne County teacher has been arrested by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department with enticing a student for sexual purposes. Wayne County Sheriff John Stein Farrior announced that the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department arrested Wayne County High School teacher Lara Wells on Monday and charged her with enticement of a child under 18 years of age for sexual purposes.

CANON CITY, Colo. -- A Kent man who is an associate professor at Seattle University was arrested in connection with a variety of child sex crimes on Monday in Colorado, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News. Police said the arrest of Major Andrew Douglas Franz, 41, stemmed from an undercover Internet investigation by the Fremont County Combined Investigative Response Team. Police said Franz traveled from Washington to Fremont County in Colorado for the purpose of having sex with an underage girl. ...

Tampa-Area District Made Infamous by Debra Lafave Racks Up Female Teacher Sex Arrests The arrest Thursday of a middle school teacher accused of having sex with a teenage student has thrust a Florida school district made famous by Debra Lafave into an uncomfortable yet familiar position. Stephanie Ragusa, a 28-year-old special education teacher, was arrested Thursday and charged with five counts of lewd and lascivious battery for what sheriff's deputies in Hillsborough County described as a consensual sexual relationship with a 14-year-old male student. Ragusa's alleged affair took place between January and May 2007 and included intercourse on at least...

DENVER (AP) - State lawmakers have introduced a bill that would require school districts to report teacher violations to the state within 24 hours, amid reports of public school teachers involved in unlawful behavior with students -- including sexual misconduct. Golden Democratic Representative Gwyn Green introduced the bill yesterday. It would strip school boards and the state Board of Education of immunity from lawsuits if they fail to do hiring background checks for teachers. The bill would give the state board 24 hours to do a complete background check on teacher applicants. It would also require school districts to report...

For six months, teacher Angela Csader walked into her kindergarten classroom with a secret. The 25-year-old Queen Creek woman was arrested in July on suspicion of having sex with a 16-year-old Gilbert boy - a boy who fathered her child. Yet officials at Anthem Elementary School and the Florence Unified School District said they knew nothing about it. She continued to teach students during a half-year span when she appeared multiple times before a Maricopa County court and was on supervised release with a curfew.

A Glenbard East High School driver's education teacher has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old female student, police said Thursday. George A. Langlotz, 58, of the 2300 block of Hartford Court in Naperville surrendered to police Wednesday on a charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and was released from custody after posting $10,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Will County Court July 11.

A Montgomery County substitute teacher and two counselors at a group home for neglected youths have been arrested on charges of having sex with a 16-year-old boy living at the home, police said yesterday. The three women, all residents of Montgomery County, have each been charged with one count of sexual abuse of a minor, according to Montgomery County police. Save & Share Article What's This? Digg Google del.icio.us Yahoo! Reddit Facebook Detectives began investigating the case Jan. 10 after receiving a report that a long-term substitute Spanish teacher at Clarksburg High School, Joy Morrow-Hargrove, was having a sexual relationship...